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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Letters To The Editor

LAW ENFORCEMENT

War on drugs a wasteful quagmire

Your Jan. 1 front page coverage of drug busts in the Ritzville area was scary. The citizens of Adams County do not benefit when their courts and jail cells are filled with petty traffic and drug violators or when their section of I-90 is swarming with state troopers.

Local businesses lose customers when a town gets a reputation as being gang-banged by police; patrons like to feel secure, not suspect. And the limited tax revenues raised in agricultural-based regions cannot support oversized legal institutions without the sacrifice of other services.

Officer Boness and his uniformed gang at Ritzville are not helping anyone but themselves. Boness and like-minded legal professionals methodically self-perpetuate by executing noncriminal and controlled substance penalties. On I-90, the police generate revenue through traffic, drug and alcohol violations.

This increases the workload on small judicial systems and in response they hire more employees and expand legal facilities. More money is then necessary to support and maintain public law enforcement, sending Boness and his cohorts back out onto the interstate.

The so-called war on drugs, legal and illegal, has created financial casualties. When social resources are used to enforce prohibition they are not available for infrastructure development. Farm, property and business owners of Adams County need good roads, schools, public utilities, fire and theft protection.

Public resources directly reinvested into community enhancement do more to develop a local economy than when used to support Gestapo-type roadblocks on interstates. Frances Hidalgo Newport, Wash.

Officers don’t deserve back-biting

I am amazed that such a ridiculous and whiny letter as Ronald Nordstrom’s Jan. 9 letter about Officer Kevin Sher even made it into the paper.

I wonder what Nordstrom does for a living? Does he have to strap on body armor to go to work? Is he the man first on the scene of a domestic violence call, only to find a woman literally beaten to death? Is he the man who finds neglected and battered children in a roach-infested shack?

No. Keven Sher is.

In a society in which murder, rape and general crime are all too common, questioning justice over whether or not Kevin Sher deserved a traffic ticket is utter nonsense.

If it wasn’t for Kevin Sher and “cops” like him, there wouldn’t be such a thing as justice at all.

Should the police get special treatment? Well, of course not, and I’m sure the investigation will indicate any wrongdoing.

In the meantime, Nordstrom, please try to worry about something that makes a difference, or strap on a bulletproof vest and walk a beat. Rhonda R. Wells Spokane

LAW AND JUSTICE

Sentence sets bad precedent

What kind of message are we sending our next generation when we say it’s all right to kill your spouse when he or she is addicted to drugs? That is exactly what Superior Court Judge Kathleen O’Connor did in sentencing Rick Birnel for the brutal murder of his wife.

I agree that drugs are a menace to our society, but with proper treatment, time and patience, a person can be rehabilitated. We must not forget this is a disease.

Murder is nothing but a brutal act of violence and should never be accepted as an answer to our war on drugs. It makes you wonder what kind of disease affects our society. Charles Bowman Spokane

PEOPLE IN SOCIETY

Rockstrom a woman of courage

In regard to “Mom freed in mercy killing,” (Jan. 10), I just want to let Deborah Rockstrom know that after reading the article on her daughter, Erin, I think it took a lot of strength and courage to do what she did.

I have two children and I hope I’ll never have to face making such a tough decision as she did. I know I would never want to go on suffering myself like Erin did. You cannot call that living a quality life.

Now Erin is in heaven, in a much better place.

Deborah, it took a lot of guts to make that decision. From reading the article I think you are a great mom and a brave person. You deserve a lot of praise. Pam Herdrick Valleyford, Wash.

Our son must be an early riser

Re: Randy Jolibois’ letter, “Youth: It’s later than they think,” (Jan. 11):

Our sons head to bed around 8:30 p.m. to read for a half an hour, with lights out at 9 p.m. Our 12-year old, who is in the seventh grade, has to be up at 5 a.m. to catch the bus by 6:10 a.m. He gets out of school at 2:05 p.m. It would be nice if he could get out of school around 4 p.m. and leave to get on the bus in the morning around 7:30 a.m. Five a.m. is too early for a 12-year old to get up, day in and day out. Porter Reiter Deer Park

THE ENVIRONMENT

Political will is what’s lacking

Regarding “Lakes council lacks what it takes,” (Jan. 4, Handle), it is certainly true that the Clean Lakes Coordinating Council is underfunded and has no regulatory power to protect Lake Coeur d’Alene and others from nutrient pollution. However, the real issue lies in the lack of political will to seriously address this serious environmental problem.

Example: The Kootenai County Commission recently gave final approval to a large, highly inappropriate new development overlooking Lake Coeur d’Alene’s Cougar Bay. The county commissioners had an opportunity to show dedication to and leadership in protecting water quality. They had the power to make a strong case against such a high-density development in a still rural area. Not only did they fail to do so, they never even considered going against the wishes of a powerful developer.

No one was surprised. It’s common knowledge that most of our local politicians are owned by developers and the business community. Do we have the pride to resist this mockery?

It has been said that the level of pollution in any given community is inversely proportional to its level of democracy. The lack of political will to address environmental problems will be changed only through more citizen involvement.

Our region desperately needs more defenders against those politically powerful interests that continue to blindly destroy the environment upon which our health, happiness and economic future depend.

The Idaho Conservation League is working to develop a citizen’s network and promote greater public awareness and action on environmental issues. For more information, call (208) 664-9184. Scott Brown Idaho Conservation League, Coeur d’Alene

Nethercutt listens, all right

We taxpayers are picking up an expensive tab for cleanup and road repair in the wake of massive flooding in our region, and will in the future if the cause the this flood isn’t addressed.

Any reputable hydrologist will point to the miles of logging roads crisscrossing our overlogged national forests as the key reason behind the floods in Idaho and Washington. Heavy rains coupled with denuded hillsides and poorly planned roads are a sure recipe for eroded hillsides, washed out roads and highways, and destroyed streams.

One would think our elected officials would work to protect communities from further floods and support sensible forest management. Instead, our own Rep. George Nethercutt has done all he can to gut the laws that protect our forest, streams and watersheds.

Nethercutt supported the passage of the “lawless logging” rider to allow timber sales to go forward without regard to environmental laws or their impact on fisheries, wildlife and watersheds. Now he is pushing to gut funding for scientific work being completed on the Columbia River watershed - much needed science that would help us prevent floods and habitat loss in the future.

Why do our politicians continue to treat our national forests as a feeding trough for timber corporations at the expense of our watersheds, highways and taxpayer dollars?

When is Nethercutt going to start listening to the public instead of the campaign dollars he receives from big industry? Greg Larson Spokane

WASHINGTON STATE

‘None’ measure must be a joke

A proposal offered by state Rep. Tom Campbell, R-Spanaway, would list “none of the above” on all ballots for legislative office next fall. The bill, HB 2177, is supported by Rep. Scott Smith, R-Graham.

Under the bill, if a majority of voters check that box, the “flesh and blood candidates would lose.” County officials then would appoint someone to fill the seat until the next election. How dumb do they think we are? This bill is a joke.

I agree with Sen. Bob McCaslin. Find and promote good candidates. Don’t let county officials choose someone to fill a seat. Who knows who they would appoint. We may get another Newt Gingrich. Georgia Peone Wellpinit, Wash.

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

Things to remember on election day

Let me see if I got this straight.

First, Rep. George Nethercutt did his part to send thousands of American workers home for the holidays, without pay, while he and his Republican Revolution cohorts continued to draw full salary. By doing so, they essentially shut down services that were essential to millions of Americans, while they drew full salary.

Then, according to a Jan. 6 news story, he is proposing to send the “nonessential” workers back to work and - surprise - the rest of we taxpayers will pay their wages for the time they were sitting at home.

But it doesn’t stop there. Because he can’t come up with enough money for these workers to do their jobs, now we taxpayers will pay the “nonessential” workers to just sit in their workplaces. The nonessentials are being paid to be nonproductive.

Does this remind anyone of the salt-in-the-wound treatment?

I do not blame the workers who have become the Republicans’ pawns. I doubt if Nethercutt and the gang polled the workers before sending them home with no pay at Christmas. I just hope that in November everyone who has been affected by this fiasco - not just the nonessential workers, but every single taxpayer - remembers this when he or she steps into the voting booth. Bob Sleeth Spokane

Democrat spendthrifts? Check the facts

I just read all of the letters against the Democrats in Jan. 10 newspaper. I find it amazing that people form such strong opinions without all of the facts.

Here are some facts:

President Clinton’s proposed budget for fiscal year 1996 was approximately $35 billion smaller than the Republicans’ budget.

Congressional Democrats’ seven-year budget cut out $30 billion more than the Republican’s budget does.

Sounds to me like the Republicans like to spend just as much as the Democrats do - they just can’t agree on where to spend it.

I don’t think the Democrats are any better than the Republicans. I just don’t think they are any worse. Terrie Jarrell Coeur d’Alene

Clinton is an obstructionist

President Clinton insists on blaming the Republican House for the problems the furloughed federal employees had when he’s the one who vetoed the bill that would have kept them working. He could have put them all back to work right away if he’d signed the budget.

When he was trying to push his socialist medical plan through he proposed increasing Medicare less than the budget allows for. He admits he raised taxes too much, yet he fights correcting that mistake.

The budget he’s vetoing differs by only 1.4 percent of his own goal. It’s no wonder the Republicans don’t trust him. He can tell a new lie every day. Congress went along with putting people back to work in November, but it didn’t happen.

I can say from personal experience that if the furloughed employees had been regular with their payments, their mortgageholders will cooperate with them if they explain the reason for their inability to pay. Furthermore, if these people were so irresponsible as to not have put a little money away for emergencies they aren’t responsible enough to be conducting government business.

These “extreme” Republicans went to Congress to do what we taxpayers asked them to do. Clinton had better realize they aren’t career politicians. They don’t care whether they’re re-elected. They only care that they keep their promise to do what we sent them to do.

It’s time for Clinton to let the country get on with its business. Jean Bell Springdale, Wash.

Social Security no favor to me

Referring to Social Security as an entitlement and indicating it is the biggest and most expensive program of the welfare state is offensive to me as I suspect it is to most recipients who paid into the system.

As a self-employed member of society, I paid not only my own tax but one-half of that levied against my employees.

It is true that because I have lived beyond the expected lifespan I have received more from the system than I contributed. However, had I been permitted to keep what was taken from me and invested it (as I did what surplus I was permitted to keep), I would be much better off today.

My Social Security card was issued on June 7, 1937. The system was one that I tried and failed to circumvent.

Now, 58 years later, I am supposed to feel like a welfare sponge, reaping where I did not sow, and taking what I did not earn. Nothing could be more embarrassing than to accept the fruits of another’s labors. I would accept the dirtiest, most offensive job to escape this demeaning and miserable alternative.

I would feel much more comfortable if it were possible for the apostles of this stupid theory, designed presumably to embarrass those of us who were sucked into the net, to return to the year 1937 and present this definition of Social Security to the perpetrators of this compulsory affliction. Ernie Wells Coeur d’Alene

IN THE PAPER

Just why was Bartel reassigned?

I read recently in Frank Bartel’s column that he was being reassigned. I always enjoyed his column and appreciated his frank and open way of addressing the good and the bad of the business world.

Was his frank and open ways the cause of management’s decision to silence his voice regarding the business world? I recently read, in Nation magazine, a 1992 quotation from Richard Kipling, the hiring editor of the Los Angeles Times: “…get calls from reporters across the country who are concerned - fearful, actually - about the increasing pressure to do stories pleasing to advertisers. … They’re panicked that their careers are in jeopardy, that they have only one choice: do the advertiser-friendly stories or join the burgeoning ranks of the journalistic unemployed.”

I certainly hope that pressure from business interests wasn’t the cause of Bartel’s reassignment. Donald E. Vandeberg Hayden Lake, Idaho

Sorority-bashing ‘childish’

A recent column of Doug Clark’s was highly insulting, not just to members of Delta Delta Delta but to all Greeks, including myself. I am a member of a sorority at Washington State University and I just finished this semester with a 4.0 grade-point average. If Clark had investigated properly he would have discovered that the all-Greek GPA average at WSU is higher than the independent students’. Summer Vail’s situation is unfortunate, but to depict all sorority members as brainless snobs is unfair and quite childish. It is one-sided, ignorant views such as Clark’s that perpetuate the myth that all we do in the Greek system is party, when in actuality we are based on brotherhood and sisterhood, scholarship and philanthropy. Jennifer O’Brien Spokane